The Palestinian Authority’s Prime Minister, Rami Hamdallah, on Monday, condemned an Israeli plan to appropriate Palestinian land in order to establish a new settlement in the West Bank.

“Israel’s move to build a new illegal settlement and bypass road next to Bethlehem is another step into cutting the West Bank in two, and annexing Area C,” Hamdallah said, according to the PNN. “Israeli authorities are doing their best to destroy the historic character of Bethlehem,” he added.

Israel is looking to grab Palestinian land next to the illegal settlement of Efrat in order to build a settler-only road, connecting Efrat to a planned new settlement called Givat Eitam. The new settlement will be located east of the separation wall and will house 2,500 units, according to a blueprint by the Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing.

The construction of the planned settlement would all but complete the encirclement of Bethlehem, rendering any development of the city impossible. Currently, Bethlehem is surrounded by settlements and bypass roads on three sides.

“The building of the settlement and the settler-only road would practically cut Bethlehem off the Southern West Bank,” said Jamal Dajani, Director of Strategic Communications & Media at the Prime Minister’s Office. “The international community has an obligation to stop Israel’s illegal and ongoing land theft, before there is nothing left of Palestine.”

Israeli settlements control more than 42 percent of the land in the West Bank through “regional councils,” including land reserves, agricultural and industrial facilities, settler-only roads, and other infrastructure.

In 2009, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu committed to not building any new settlements after harsh criticism from the international community.

However, this promise has not stopped his government from continuously appropriating private Palestinian land and approving plans for new settlements.

The Jordanian authorities have strongly denounced Israel's "wanton" violation of the Aqsa Mosque's sanctity through its persistence in allowing Jewish settlers to defile it, especially during the last two days and today.

Jordanian minister of awqaf and religious affairs Wael Arabiyat expressed his country's condemnation of the unprecedented massive desecration of the Aqsa Mosque that happened yesterday morning by over 400 Jewish settlers escorted by a large number of police forces.

Arabiyat also deplored the Israeli police for allowing more than 27 settlers to defile the Mosque during the dawn and morning hours of Monday.

He slammed the rituals which the settlers performed during recent break-ins at the Mosque and the brutal police assaults on Muslim worshipers as a "flagrant disregard for the Muslim nation's feelings and a clear violation of the international law and norms."

He warned that "Israel's persistence in its violation against the Aqsa Mosque would lead to a religious war in the region."

The minister hailed all Muslims and awqaf employees who courageously confronted the settlers' break-ins at the Mosque and called on the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the UN to swiftly move to curb Israel's escalating violations at the Islamic holy site.

Reports have recently been released by Israeli news outlets on underway preparations to build the alleged temple mount on the ruins of the al-Aqsa Mosque, in Occupied Jerusalem, pending a formal political decision.

The reports came at a time when Israelis have celebrated the so-called destruction of the temple ceremony.

Participants in the underway preparations claimed that the transfer of the needed equipment to the al-Aqsa Mosque, precisely to the Dome of the Rock, was probable within the next few hours.

They added that the construction works will take no more than three years time.

A report aired Saturday by the Israeli Channel 2 revealed underway activities and arrangements by the Israeli Women for the Temple Organization to start the construction of the alleged temple.

The activities include workshops and secret meetings to boost mass break-ins at al-Aqsa Mosque and celebrate wedding ceremonies once every couple of days.

Efforts have also been underway by Israeli lobbies to put such Israeli schemes into effect and garner support for the bid among Israeli MKs and stakeholders.

Another report broadcast Friday by the Israeli Channel 1 showed intensive preparations for the construction of the alleged temple, including raising a livestock as a sacrifice to the temple.

The report quoted the director of the Temple Institute, Yisrael Ariel, as stating that over 40 priests are awaiting instructions to start their work in the alleged temple and that the institute has prepared the needed equipment for the temple.

An Israeli map maker said during an interview that he has prepared detailed maps for the construction of the alleged temple on the ruins of al-Aqsa and over an area of 144 dunums. He added that a period of three years is fair enough to finalize the construction works.

On Sunday, a group of around 250 armed Israeli settlers, accompanied by dozens of Israeli soldiers, invaded the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in the world for Muslims.

The Israeli settlers, mainly religious Jews, invaded the mosque as part of their celebration of the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’av. Palestinian Muslim worshipers who were present at the time of the invasion attempted to stop the invasion, and were attacked by soldiers and settlers.

The Israeli soldiers stood guarding the 250 Israelis as they moved into the holy site. Although Israeli authorities have signed numerous agreements to allow the Islamic Waqf of Jerusalem to have full jurisdiction over the al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli soldiers control all entry into and out of the mosque.

Over the past month, Israeli authorities have detained 21 staff members of the Islamic Waqf which administers the mosque. In addition, the military has issued dozens of ‘ban orders’ against individual Palestinians, preventing them from worshiping in or entering the mosque. The Palestinians who received these bans say that the Israeli military gave them no reason for banning them from the mosque, and noted there is no way to appeal the ban.

During the invasion on Sunday, 18 Palestinians were injured, mainly by so-called ‘non-lethal’ weapons fired by the Israeli military. These weapons include rubber-coated steel bullets, concussion grenades, and tear gas.

Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani, the head of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, told Palestinian reporters from the Ma’an news agency, “We deny Israel’s claim that these raids are just visits and tourism. Israeli settlers are constantly raiding the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to provoke the Muslim worshipers by practicing prayers and rituals in a holy place for Muslims only. Israel is violating all international regulations by its procedures in Al-Aqsa compound.”

Over recent days, Israeli fanatics called for mass break-ins at al-Aqsa to mark the destruction of the temple ceremony.

Meanwhile, Hamas Movement urged the Palestinian masses to speak up against such Israeli aggressions on al-Aqsa and stand up for Muslims’ rights to perform their prayers in the site.

Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri warned of the serious repercussions of the Israeli escalation at al-Aqsa, calling on the international parties to urgently step in and bring such Israeli assaults to a halt.

The Israeli occupation forces and settlers stepped up attacks on and break-ins at the holy al-Aqsa Mosque—the third holiest site in Islam—in an attempt to wipe out the typically Islamic idiosyncrasy of the site.

Under tight police protection, hundreds of Jewish settlers and officials on Sunday morning embarked on desecrating the Aqsa Mosque's courtyards in groups to mark the alleged temple destruction anniversary.

According to local sources, over 180 settlers toured the Aqsa Mosque's courtyards in different groups while hundreds were still waiting in the morning to enter the holy site through al-Maghariba Gate under police escort.

Special police troops and senior officers were already deployed in different areas of the Mosque to provide protection for the settlers.

Meanwhile, Palestinian worshipers were asked to hand over their ID cards to policemen at all gates and entrances leading to the Mosque before allowing them in. In a related incident, Israeli policemen escorted one of the settlers out of the Islamic holy site after one of the mosque guards stopped him from performing rituals.

They also expelled two Palestinian young men after they chanted religious slogans in protest at the desecration of the Mosque.

As part of their restrictions on the entry of Muslims to the holy place today, the Israeli police also closed several gates of the Aqsa Mosque.

During the last few days, extremist Jewish groups had embarked on inciting their communities to participate in Sunday's break-ins at the Aqsa Mosque.

Different Jewish groups also organized at night Saturday oratorical and religious activities during a march around the ancient walls of Jerusalem and near the Aqsa Mosque in the presence of right-wing Israeli government officials and Knesset members.

In this regard, the Hamas Movement warned yesterday that fanatic Jewish groups of settlers and officials intend to participate in mass break-ins at the Aqsa Mosque to commemorate the destruction of alleged Talmudic temples, and urged the Palestinians to intensify their presence at the holy site to protect it.

Senior Hamas official Ezzat al-Resheq described the intents of Jewish settlers and officials to defile the Mosque en masse on Sunday as part of Israel's plan to divide it between Muslim and Jews.

Hundreds of settlers including extremist Jews at a late hour at night on Saturday stormed Damascus and Herod's gates in Occupied Jerusalem.

The incursion came within a night march in celebration of the so called “The Destruction of the Temple of Solomon” under protection of Israeli police and army.

Israeli forces declared a state of alert to pave the way for the “big incursion” into the Aqsa Mosque at dawn Sunday. Israeli police intensified the deployment of its forces in the streets of the Occupied Jerusalem especially in the Old City in preparation for the settlers’ march.

Over 2,000 settlers headed to the Old City from west Jerusalem after midnight and attended the Jewish rituals of the ninth of August. Israeli police also declared the closure of many roads in the vicinity of the Old City in order to allow the largest possible number of settlers to express their "sadness" over the destruction of the alleged Temple of Solomon.

On the other hand, a score of Jerusalmite people told the PIC reporter that there had been preparations for confronting settlers and preventing them to violate the sanctity of the Aqsa Mosque.

They opined that Israeli incursions into the holy city and the arrest campaigns against Jerusalemite people aim at intimidating Palestinians and preventing them from confronting settlers or resisting the Israeli occupation, as well as to impose sovereignty over east Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque.

The Jerusalemites slammed the Palestinian and Jordanian authorities for not defending the holy city of Jerusalem and for not confronting the Israeli violations.

Palestinian journalists and activists have launched a campaign to demand Google add Palestine to Google Maps application instead of Israel.

Forum of Palestinian Journalists issued a statement refusing the deletion of Palestine from the map, and calling upon Google to delete Israel since it is an occupying entity.

Technical Error!

Claiming it was all a result of a bug, Google spokesperson said that Palestine used to appear by clicking on some distinctive marks in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

She added that they are working on solving the problem and restoring

these distinctive marks. Google Maps does not include the name “Palestine” although 136 countries in the UN recognize the State of Palestine.

#HereIsPalestine

Palestinian activists launched the hashtag #HereIsPalestine to condemn the deletion of Palestine.

Activist Mohammed Bassif expressed his doubts regarding what Google reported to be a technical problem. Bassif said, “Google responded [to deleting Palestine] that it was a problem.

My question is: How come a problem occurs when entering Palestine in all input languages?” It will always be Palestine “

This land will always be Palestine. Not Israel,” Bassif added.

The journalists are seeking to pressure Google through signing a petition by Google Maps users to demand Google add Palestine to the map.

The number of supporters have reached 300,000 in the first 24 hours.

On change.org, users can sign the petition by clicking on (GOOGLE: Put Palestine On Your Maps!). According to the Palestinian journalists, such incidents remind the people of how important the technology is in affecting the understanding of the world.

The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) in Occupied Jerusalem has omitted all texts and pictures that are related to Palestine and the struggle against the occupation from Palestinian school books before its distribution.

According to the Hebrew newspaper Iroshalim, the Israeli municipality and the ministry of education deleted Quranic verses, poems and other contents from Palestinian curriculums advocating the Palestinian struggle against the occupation.

The IOA recently distributed these books that contained some blank pages and blackened lines to Palestinian schools in the holy city.

Among the lines that disappeared from those books are texts talking about the unity of the Muslim nation and the importance of the Aqsa Mosque.

The Palestinian map, flag and anthem were also removed from text books.

The Israeli municipality justified the measure by claiming that it would not allow the presence of educational books encouraging violence.

Qpress media center said that 8,960 Israelis, mostly Jewish activists and members of the institutions of the alleged Temple of Solomon, have stormed the Aqsa Mosque since last January.

A statistics report issued by the center showed that the Israelis who performed the incursions included 7,183 settlers, 482 members of Israeli intelligence, 241 Israeli soldiers in military uniform along with the police in addition to 1,054 students, guides and experts in Israeli antiquities.

The report stated that the pace of the Israeli incursions increases whenever there is a Jewish national or religious holiday.

A remarkable increase in the Israeli attempts of performing Talmudic rituals at different locations at the Aqsa Mosque was also mentioned in the report.

Khalil al-Tafakji, expert of settlement affairs, said that Israeli recent settlement plans aim at isolating east Jerusalem from the West Bank and annexing it to Israel in order not to become the capital of the projected Palestinian State.

Those plans come within the Israeli government’s series of procedures to build 54,000 new housing units in Occupied Jerusalem by 2020, he added.

In his talk to the PIC reporter, Tafakji pointed out that the building project of 770 units in Gilo Settlement along with what is being done in the settlements of Ramot, Ramat Shlomo and Givat Zeev are projects pre-planned in 2012 and 2013.

The Israeli government approved on Thursday the construction of two towers in Pisgat Ze'ev settlement in northern Occupied Jerusalem.

Israeli municipality had earlier submitted another project of establishing 2500 new housing units extending from Gilo settlement to the tunnels area over Beit Jala and Bethlehem lands to the south of Occupied Jerusalem.

Sheikh Kamal al-Khatib, deputy head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 occupied lands, has called on all Palestinians to head en masse for the Aqsa Mosque on Sunday to protect it against intended mass desecration by Jewish settlers and officials.

In press remarks to Qpress news website, Sheikh Khatib said that extremist Jewish groups as well as religious figures and Knesset members declared their intents to defile the Aqsa Mosque compound to commemorate what they called the destruction of the alleged first and second temples.

He warned the Israeli government of playing with fire and overstepping all red lines through its persistence in violating the Islamic sanctity of the Aqsa Mosque, recalling what had been once said by former Shin Bet chief Carmi Gillon that the continued targeting of the Aqsa Mosque would lead the Israeli people to a new catastrophe.

The U.S. warned Israel against the pending demolition of the Palestinian village of Sussiya after officials popped in the area on Wednesday.

“If the Israeli government proceeds with demolitions it would be very troubling,” State Department Press Office director Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters on Wednesday.

“We remain concerned about the increased demolition of Palestinian structures in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which reportedly have left dozens of Palestinians homeless, including children,” she said.

“More than 650 Palestinian structures have been demolished this year, with more Palestinian structures demolished in the West Bank and east Jerusalem thus far than in all of 2015,” she added.

Officials from the U.S. Consulate General in Occupied Jerusalem visited the village, a home to over 48 Palestinian families. Jabal al-Khalil Regional Council head Yochai Damri said he was “outraged” with U.S. interference with regard to Sussiya’s projected demolition.

“We’re talking about a criminal clan from Yatta that has taken over the land and has built illegally,” Damri claimed as he called for tearing down the village.

“It’s unacceptable that the U.S. government would interfere on legal matters,” said Damri. “We’re talking about an attempt to prejudice the court in a foreign country.”

Located in the Israeli-controlled Area C, Sussiya village has been exploited by the Israeli occupation authorities for illegal settlement construction. In 1983 an illegal settlement outpost named after the village was built on Palestinian lands in the territory.

The period from 1983 onward witnessed an escalation represented in the forced displacement of Palestinian natives from their own and only homes in the village.

The so-called Committee for Planning and Construction, in the municipality of Jerusalem, is scheduled to discuss a plan to confiscate lands from the Mount Scopus neighborhood, in Jerusalem, for the construction of synagogues and a plunge pool.

The synagogue and pool are to be constructed in the settlement neighborhood of “Nosav Zion”. The area of land that will be forfeited is 1.2 dunums, while 90 families live in the community, surrounded by the Mount Scopus neighborhood.

According to to Al Ray, Jerusalem municipality member of the Meretz leftist party, Laura Warten, protested the plan, saying that the Mount Scopus neighborhood lacks many of the urgent and basic amenities, while the municipality seeks to take control of the territories that are not considered as Israeli areas before any country in the world.

The Israeli building committee in Jerusalem Municipality decided to establish 62 new housing units in Pisgat Zeev near occupied Jerusalem one day after the decision of constructing thousands of housing units between Gilo and the tunnels areas.

The same committee approved confiscating a Palestinian land lot of 1.2-kilometer estimated area for the establishment of a Jewish synagogue in the Nof Zion neighborhood, which is inhabited by 90 very wealthy families, in Mount Scopus in occupied Jerusalem.

Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the Jerusalem municipality had announced that the owner of the Palestinian land plot was not identified, claiming that the confiscation decision followed a request by the Religious Structures Administration in Jerusalem.